Saturday Sit-Down!

Hey ladies!  I am so excited to be featured today on one of my favorite blogs!  I am answering some questions on Erica's blog as part of her new Saturday Sit-Down series!  Be sure to check it out!

Also,  I know I've been a major slacker this month but I plan to be back next week with a deployment update, debt-free update, and a post about our furry boy!

Recommendations? Anyone?

All right, y'all!  This is going to be a short one.  Other than Dave Ramsey's financial books, I really haven't read much this year.   I can't seem to get into ANYTHING!  I need some recommendations of really great books, ones you couldn't put down.  Must be Fiction but other than that I'm pretty much open to anything!  Annnnd Go!

Three Things

I saw this going around the blogosphere and decided to give it a go since I've really been slacking here lately.  Between working a new job and adjusting to my husband being gone, I have had zero time to myself. 

Three thing's I'd never give up: 
My family and friends, travel, and books.

Three favorite vegetables:
Corn, Green Beans, and Carrots.

Three shows I watched faithfully from beginning to end:
Gilmore Girls (probably seen it all the way through 10 times), Chicago PD (I've been watching since episode 1 and still watch faithfully), and Flashpoint (obviously I didn't watch it while it was on but I watched all the way through on Netflix).  I rarely watch shows faithfully.

Three places I want to visit inside the US:
Portland, Oregon; San Diego, California; Boston, Massachusetts

Three places I want to visit outside the US:
This question is just mean!!  Hmmm... Ireland, Austria, and Peru.

Three things I always have with me: 
Military ID, a book, and my phone.

Three things that are always in my car:
Sunglasses, Jumper Cables, and an unnecessary amount of water bottles.

Three most recent calls were from/to:
My best friend, Alex, the place I'm going to board my dog, and my friend Randi. 

Three books I read and loved in college: 
Seriously, I don't have a clue! I don't remember a thing that I read in college lol

Three most often used makeup products:
Mascara, Eye Liner, and Cover Up.

Three things that make me laugh:
Cat videos, videos of people falling, and my husband.

Three things that make me cry:
Anything involving shelter dogs, military homecoming videos, and sappy movies.

2017 Goals: February

Can't say I got much done on the goals front this month.  It's been stressful between the new job and preparing for Josh to leave, plus there was a last minute trip home in there.  Hopefully March will be better once I get settled into a routine and get used to this new job.

1.  Switch to a Vegan Diet

I didn't really make any progress with this but I'm also happy to report that I haven't regressed either.   I'm still eating Vegan dinners, and when I bother to eat breakfast (I know) I eat a vegan breakfast.  Lunch is the only one I'm working on.  I'm pretty good with that for now.  Over the next few months I plan to play around a bit with my meals.  I have a few meals that are my go-to's but I want to try a few new things for breakfast and dinner before I focus on lunch.   I'm feeling good about where I am with this goal right now. 

2.  Focus on my Health

This was a big fat freaking fail!  I only went to the gym maybe 3 times and I ate like crap.  I'm hoping to get back on track now that I've started my new job and we're past the start of this deployment.   I've also majorly failed in waking up early.  I've been waking up between 8 and 9 every day but I want to be up by 7 at the latest.  I just epically failed at this goal this month.

3. Focus on Bolt's Training
I've been doing more obedience training at home with him, but I still want to get him into classes.  This will have to happen in April after we get our finances in order with all of the recent changes.  I did find an amazing place to board him while I'm out of town this month.  They'll include him in doggy daycare and he'll get to play all day.  I really like this place and I'm excited to see how it works for him.

4.  Photo 365 on Instagram
Again, this one is going really well.  I'll miss a day here and there but I have only missed 6 or 7 days this whole year, so I'd say that's not too bad.   If you follow me on Instagram, my hashtag is #JLRich365.

5. No Spend Year
Well, the Army really hasn't given us a choice in this one.  Josh had to buy so much stuff for his deployment and it wasn't optional.  However, I will say that we didn't buy anything that wasn't needed or required.  I'm counting this as a win for this month. 

6. School

I am actually taking this one off the list.  I was accepted to the Paralegal program at the local community college, but I have decided not to go that route.  Instead, I am going to take classes online at UMUC for a BA in Legal Studies, but I'm not going to start until next year.  Right now, working and saving money is more important than going back to school.

7.  Finish the 50 States Challenge
Fail, just fail. 

Book Reviews: February 2017

I don't normally read non-fiction books, but this month was the month of non-fiction.  I'm really glad I read each of these books, though.  I feel like I learned a lot.

LOOOOVE!  I really needed this.  I have been wanting to do something about my student loans for a while.  As you can tell by all of my recent financial posts I am following Dave Ramsey's seven steps.   I really like how he explains each step in detail and gives good logical reasons why it should be done this way.  And I know that it's basically a way to market his plan, I did love reading the success stories from different people.  This was a huge motivator for me and I highly recommend this to anyone looking to get out of debt no matter how large or small those debts might be.

I gave this book a 5/5 on my GoodReads

This book was a bit weird for me.  I found some of it to be really helpful and some of it to be a bit silly.   I don't think inanimate objects have feelings and since I'm not a particularly emotional person, I'm not going to choose what I keep based on a feeling.  I did like the advice on getting rid of stuff by category and I did like the illustrations of how to fold clothes.  If you can get past the author and how neurotic she sounds, it can be helpful.  I don't know that I'd go out of my way to recommend it though.

I gave this book a 3/5 on my GoodReads.

While I didn't find this book as useful as Total Money Makeover, I did learn a few things.  I'm not very knowledgeable about investing so this helped a lot as far as giving me a place to start.  I also learned a lot more about interest and bank math, which sadly, I didn't really know much about.  If I had read this book at a different time, I may not have liked it as much but for me it added fuel to the fire, reading it after reading Total Money Makeover.   I would definitely recommend reading this book.

I gave this book a 4/5 on my GoodReads.